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[collins odigbo]

This is Rhonda's story...

Hello! I saw on the board that you are looking for Cast Member stories. I figured I would share with you. I worked at WDW from August '99 to Dec '01. I loved it and would still be there if I had not had to move back to Missouri to take care of family here. I had many wonderful experiences while I was there, but the most memorable one was when I was working in Downtown Disney at DisneyQuest.

A boy, Johnathan, came through with his family one night when I was working at Cyberspace Mountain. I was joking around with them and helping them to design their roller coasters when he reached up and grabbed onto my hand and smiled. I told him how brave he must be to design such a wicked roller coaster. His mother asked if I would come up the stairs and be the one to put them into the simulator, and I obliged. We talked as the father rode with Johnathan and I told her of my own three daughters (I now have four). We swapped funny stories about kids, they had a great time, and I allowed them to trade so each parent could ride with the boy. He seemed so happy.

After they were done, they thanked me and left. I thought nothing of it until half an hour later when the family appeared at the exit and asked for me by name. They had gone down to the gift shop and bought a Quest shirt for the boy. It was then that the mother told me her son had a brain tumor and was going to die, and that he had been to all the parks and wanted nothing to do with the characters or their autographs, but instead wanted me to sign his T-shirt because I had told him how brave he was. Fighting back tears, I smiled at the boy and signed his shirt.

After Johnathan passed away, his mother sent me the shirt through Disney along with a note that said, “Thank you for inspiring and instilling confidence in my son. Now please give this shirt to your little girls and inspire them as well. He never forgot you.